Smart Collection: Search Folder Name

[Ian Farlow]

I organize my RAW photos into folders using names to represent the content of the folders. In other words:

/Images/Work Shoots/DARE/Auburn Elementary/2''8 Graduation

I attempted to create a Smart Collection and used the "Any Searchable Text" to isolate any images with "DARE" in the folder structure. I got no returns. I tried "Filename" with no results. I tried "Any Searchable Metadata" with no results. Odd thing is that the entire folder structure appears in the metadata pane when looking at the image, so I assumed it would be searchable.

Is there no way to isolate a group of images based on the folder in which they reside when building a Smart Collection? If not, then I would suggest this as a new feature to consider. On a similar note, I would also suggest being able to include or exclude images from other Collections/Smart Collections as well. Just see iTunes for an example of robust Smart Collections.

As I think about it, the search criteria seems a little limited, so maybe Smart Collections will get a boost before the final product ships.

 

[Denis Pagé]

Is there no way to isolate a group of images based on the folder in which they reside when building a Smart Collection? If not, then I would suggest this as a new feature to consider. On a similar note, I would also suggest being able to include or exclude images from other Collections/Smart Collections as well. Just see iTunes for an example of robust Smart Collections.

As I think about it, the search criteria seems a little limited, so maybe Smart Collections will get a boost before the final product ships.

Such a feature request may be more complicated to implement than one may think at first!

For example: What if you decide to restructure and move folders (whitin Lightroom as should be done), such smart collections can then get somehow "broken"... So, a folder move will have to check in the database for any reference to it or part of it and act accordingly.

For now, folder structures are top level references. If they become also part of records details, this also become a database programmer's nightmare! I am doing database programming since 23 years now and I do not have a clue coming to my mind (for the moment at least).

A similar implementation I would like to have for an OS is to have such "intelligent" OLE behavior (Object Linking and Embedding). In the case of linked objects in files like all your Word documents referencing the company logo bitmap located somewhere rather than having a copy of the logo embedded in the document; This is nice to link as if your logo eventually change, you don't have to change it on each document individually.

But what if you change the logo's location!? First, the logo file will have to know it was linked to one or more files. Second, it will have to find all files referencing to it and update them accordingly.

It has been talked about in the past and is still beyond all OSes capabilities at present. Maybe after '3-'4-2'2'? (Lightroom BETA 2.' forum rules expiry date)

 

[samdring]

Denis
I also use Job Names in my folder structure and would love this.
I must be way off beam on this one as I thought that smart collections were nothing more than saved searches which re-run on request. If I move folders or images, how can anything be broken? They will not be returned if they no longer match the search criteria.
ACD has had this facility for many years where it simply returns all images in all folders matching the criterion.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I'd second that request if it's possible to do. Put in a request Ian!

 

[Ian Farlow]

Victoria, I will.

And Denis, I have to respectfully disagree. I don't believe that this request would be specifically difficult to implement (not withstanding the difficult nature of programming in general). As samdring pointed out, the Smart Collection would simply return no results if something in the folder structure changed. Exactly the same thing happens now if I enter a typo in a text field for existing search criteria. Nothing earth shattering, really.

 

[Denis Pagé]

Victoria, I will.

And Denis, I have to respectfully disagree. I don't believe that this request would be specifically difficult to implement (not withstanding the difficult nature of programming in general). As samdring pointed out, the Smart Collection would simply return no results if something in the folder structure changed. Exactly the same thing happens now if I enter a typo in a text field for existing search criteria. Nothing earth shattering, really.

I have to agree with you Ian that if you can live with the fact that a smart collection will simply lose some images, this can easily be implemented (some of by databases work that way).

What I was talking about was "what if you want your smart collections not being affected". They would not "break" in the sense of becoming unusable; Just that their content would change. If this is OK for you, so why not?

I myself use words like Theme, Location, Event etc. in my folder structure alongside with dates. Useful when for example I export to a subfolder in the Web module and want to easily relocate outside Lightroom... But I found that those words everytime also get used as keywords. I prefer to use the keywords for smart collections criterias precisely to let me free to move things around.

One of the nicest things I like with Lightroom is that it doesn't care about where you images are. Well... it does for operational purposes. I mean that it is freeing the operator from the hassle of knowing where everything is.